Thursday, May 22, 2008

The Urban Paranormal Eve Dallas?

I wondered why Amazon kept on throwing Servant: The Awakening at me. Then I realized that L.L. Foster is Lori Foster's pen name for her new adventure into urban paranormal romance genre. Good move to write under a new(ish) name because it certainly is a departure from the usual Foster fair. The setting, tone, and characters are dark, the wit is bounding off the pages as it usually is, and your heroine is so stubborn that it makes you want to strangle her sometimes.

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The plot itself isn't all that fantastic: Gaby Cody, has a calling from God, sending her into the world with the unique vision of seeing evil for what it truly is. She alone can penetrate the facade of skin and bones and recognize evil at face value. Alone in her vigilante efforts to save the world, she is an extremely odd mix of innocence and world-hardened weariness. At twenty-one, she has the eyes of a warrior and the cynicism that is unparalleled. When a crime attracts the attention of Detective Luther Cross, Gaby's world is suddenly embroiled in the tangling mess of legalities.

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Okay, first off, as it appears from above, the plot is no master work. It's straightforward, with little to no twists. To cap it all off, it's a very obvious effort to launch a new series. Given all that, I must admit that I did not want to read it when I first came across it. And I also didn't want to read it when I came across it the second, third, and fourth time either. First, it was the cover. Ironically, Foster has a note on her new L.L. Foster site that states she's quite happy with the cover. On one hand, I can see that Foster was given the star treatment in the sense that the art department did take time to incorporate Gaby's likeness into the computer generate model, specifically adding the leather choker that comes into play during a scene between Luther and Gaby. Other than the glaringly large misrepresentation of Gaby possessing cantaloupe-sized breasts when they're described more in the lines of mosquitoes bite-sized. Another PR ploy that one must overlook...

Second reason why I never wanted to pick up the book was the issue of names. I don't like the name Luther. Don't have much of a reason other than it doesn't exactly strike me personally as a hero name that signals strength and all that. But obviously I got over all of that and took a shot in the dark...

Funny how I immediately thought of Eve Dallas when I began reading Gaby's character. Why? All that surly, snarky, tomboyish behavior. However, there's a very contradictory innocence that softens Gaby's character even though she's got the mouth of a sailor. As a side note, for those who complain about the amount of bad language: I don't think it's all that bad as some reviewers on Amazon makes it sound. Perhaps it's coming from the heroine that makes people cringe. But eh, I can let it go given the urban paranormal genre. Gaby's innocence provided a few scenes that were a bit lighthearted, given the circumstances. The ones where Gaby is questioning Luther about what she saw brought a smirk to my face. For me, I can't compare Eve Dallas to Gaby Cody simply because I don't see enough parallels other than what I mentioned above. Eve is a grown woman and for some reason, the fact that Gaby is so young makes a difference for me. Maybe the largest linking factor to Dallas is that both these series feature the heroine first and the couple second. It threw me off in the reading pattern when I anticipated seeing Luther's point of view but was not given to me until a good handful of pages later.

The biggest kicker? There is NO sex. Admittedly, I can see several reasons for it. First, it's an obvious set-up to make sure the reader buys the next book. The lack of sex is enough to prompt me to want to pick up the next one to see how Luther and Gaby settle things. Second, the book is too short. I say that because the book starts off very slowly and the fact that it's only 292 pages just wasn't enough with all that internal dialoging going on. With Gaby's extreme innocence and the slowness of the plot, it wouldn't have made much sense to put in a sex scene when Luther is just beginning to give Gaby her first kiss. But come on! A romance book with no more sexual action than a brief few paragraph kiss? Feel shortchanged? Perhaps. But I admire the bold move. In fact, for this reader, it did its job of prolonging the anticipation.

The connection between Luther Cross and Gaby Cody is sufficient but not electric. It amused me when most of their meetings began or ended with her trying to unman, maim, or generally dispose of him. And oddly enough, it didn't put me off as much as I thought it would. Some readers might question Luther's attraction to Gaby, buy hey...who can really explain Roarke's intense attraction for Eve who can be as surly as a baited bear most of the time? Therefore, I don't question much the idea of 'why' Cross is attracted other than his own explanation of "scent, attitude, and expression."

Is it worth the $7.99? No. Is it worth the dollar I paid at the used bookstore? Yes. It's interesting enough and for me, the oddly (and perhaps, twisted) mix of Gaby's vigilante save-the-world hero complex and her naive mentality works. I know that it won't work for many. But I have no problem with it. It's no brain teaser. It's a straightforward, call 'em like you see it plot with characters that are only showing the potential for growth by the end of the book. A fairly decent beach read, but don't expect it to give you the thrill of the entire rollar coaster. For me, I would say it's more like a mediocre little bump, not a jaw dropping feeling. Still, as I turned the last page I couldn't help but want to know what happens next. So yes, this first in the series did its job of luring me into the next...

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2 out of 5: Lower rating because the book does not have a plot and characters that can truly cast a wide net as normal Foster novels do. But, I can admire her new foray into a new genre. It had some unique moments between the characters but it's doubtful that it will be a reread book.